Slow Talking

Slow Talking

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to spend the summer teaching English to a group of Taiwanese students. It was a great job which included sightseeing tours at our nation’s historic attractions. 

Rising in the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument, we met a young, hearing-impaired woman. She was very interested in my students and asked several questions through her interpreter. She would sign a question, her friend would speak it aloud for me, and I would repeat it to the Taiwanese girls. Then we reversed the process, the girls asking, me repeating, the interpreter signing.  

When we reached the top and were saying farewell, some other tourists commented that this had been an amazing exchange. They were especially impressed with my ‘interpretation’ for the students.

“Do you speak Chinese?” they asked. 

“No,” I said. “I speak slow English.” 

My students spoke some words of English. I knew the Chinese for Hello, How are you? and Quickly, (which is a word that comes in very handy when crossing busy streets.) We communicated well because we had discovered a secret of communication. When you speak slowly understanding speeds up.

         

English is a second language for many of our students today. My Latino students enjoy a good laugh when I try out my high school Spanish on them. My accent is atrocious and I speak only in the present tense. They chatter to each other leaving me clueless. But when we slow down and listen hard, we connect. 

Every year, more and more people pour into our country looking for a chance for a better life. They want to be productive. They want to advance. They want to understand. They want to learn English. But hurry is a way of life here. We have become the United States of rush, rush, rush.

Latin American author Isabelle Allende related this story during a radio interview: When she arrived in the U.S., she spoke not a word of English. A mother with young children, she found it difficult to attend classes. So she did what so many others do; she watched TV hoping to learn English.

“I watched Mr. Rogers along with my children.” she remembered. “He was the only one who spoke slowly enough for me to learn.  I love Mr. Rogers.” 

         

John Adams, founding father and the second President of the United States wrote home to his wife Abigail after a visit he had made to the New York Legislature. He noted that everyone there spoke very quickly and at the same time and that, as a result, no one ever listened to anyone else.

         

While visiting my mother’s family in Italy one summer, my husband, a slow talking man, amazed an entire party by telling a long, funny story -- in Italian! He knew only one Italian word and his audience spoke no English, yet everyone understood him and laughed heartily. 

“Miracolo!” they cried -- a miracle that they attributed to good Italian olio di oliva, mozzarella, and pomodori (tomatoes.)

We have all become New York talkers. We zap messages through cyberspace, by satellite and cable. The world is changing every day at lightning speed. Let’s slow down our speaking and speed up our understanding. 

Speak slowly, listen carefully and learn a lot.